


Glow

by Just_Rocket_Science



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, Fluff, elrond has a bit of ptsd, literally just pure fluff, tss2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28238517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Rocket_Science/pseuds/Just_Rocket_Science
Summary: Celebrían has found something beautiful. Naturally, she isn't about to keep it to herself.
Relationships: Celebrían/Elrond Peredhel
Comments: 12
Kudos: 24





	Glow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [just_one_iota](https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_one_iota/gifts).



> Written for the Tolkein Secret Santa! 
> 
> This was my first time writing these two (but hopefully not the last hehe) and I'm honestly in love.

Celebrian nudged her husband. “Want to dance?” Elrond glanced back at the kids. They had found a pine tree with resin dripping down it, and had promptly turned into a bunch of elflings again, flicking the stickiness at each other. Celebrian followed his gaze, and laughed. “Come, they’ll be alright. What’s the worst they could do, eat it?”  
“Don’t give them any ideas,” Elrond said darkly. Arwen caught his eye, and waved pleasantly. Celebrian pulled him away, towards the drifting sound of the Noldorin music.  
“Trust me.” her voice was gentle. “They’ll be fine. We all will be.” Elrond couldn’t help but smile back at the softness of her voice. She was so persuasive. There was a reassurance about her, a furious optimism that couldn’t help but rub off on him. He rested his forehead against hers.  
“You’re right. It would not do at all to dwell on such things tonight.” He twirled her around, and her skirts flared out about her in waves of glittering sequins reflecting the silver light of the moon. She was beautiful.  
“Glad we agree,” she chuckled, a little breathlessly. Her eyes flared with curious mischief. “Come.” His hand fit perfectly against hers, and she pulled him away from the music, into the welcoming darkness of the woods. He could not help but glance back at the kids.  
“But-” She kissed him.  
“I told you to trust me.”  
“I know. I do. It’s just…” Fire. Blood. The madness in the eyes of those that had sworn to protect him… he wouldn’t let his children feel like that, so alone, so afraid. Celebrian squeezed his hand comfortingly.  
“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” No. She deserved better than this, deserved someone who could match the radiant light in her every movement. He shook his head.  
“Let’s go. Where are you taking me?”  
“You’ll see. Arwen found something.”  
“She did?” Momentary worry glittered in Elrond’s eyes.  
“Oh, no- nothing bad,” Celebrian hurriedly assured him. She pressed a kiss to his cheek, and breathed softly against his skin. “Something beautiful.” He coughed, pulling away awkwardly at the heat in his cheeks.  
“Well that sounds. Uh. Interesting.”

The forest was beautiful this time of night. Patches of moonlight dotted the ground, filtered through the great canopies of ancient trees. There was a soft breeze blowing, making the branches of trees wave in gentle unison, so that the silver patches of light appeared to dance and dart about. Elrond remembered another night like this, when Elladan and Elrohir had been younger. They had loved to try and catch the moonlight, their expressions coming up confused when they realized that light did not appear to be a tangible thing. Elrohir in particular had been rather glum after that startling discovery. Elrond chuckled at the memory, earning a curious glance from Celebrian.  
“What is it?”  
“The night. It’s beautiful.” _Like you_ , he added silently, though he was not quite lovestruck enough to say it out loud. Her irises glowed like twin moons.  
“Wait till you see this then.” They had come to a stop outside a cave, obscured by the drooping branches of trees that appeared as dark silhouettes dotted with specks of moonlight. Elrond peered inside. It truly was a lovely cave, carved into the side of one of the cliff faces that surrounded Rivendell. They could probably make some use out of it.  
“Well. It’s a nice shape,” he said finally.  
“No, you dumbass.” Celebrian took his hand, and tugged him inside. He almost tripped on a stray tree root, clinging to her side so as not to fall over. He wasn’t a huge fan of caves. The darkness, the feeling of stone encircling you… Maedhros, telling him and Elros to stay here, to hide. The freezing water dripping down his back as he sat there, unable to move, trapped between his brother and the cold stone. He couldn’t see anything. He was _blind_. And it was so cold here, so frigid, the iciness settling deep into his bones and curling up in his heart- Warm arms wrapped around his waist.  
“Elrond?” He blinked, trembling softly. She pressed a kiss to his cheek.  
“Sorry.”  
“No, don’t be. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Eru, he didn’t deserve someone this perfect.  
“You were trying to show me something nice, and I-”  
“Hush. It’s alright. Do you want to go back? I promise it won’t be dark all the way through; just a couple steps more.” He held on tightly to her hand, concentrating on the barely visible light of her silver eyes.  
“I’m fine. Keep going.”

It wasn’t all that bad when she stuck tightly to his side, pointing out rock formations and talking to fill the darkness. He could relax, almost. Not quite. But almost.  
“See, when I was a kid, I used to always mess up between stalagmites and stalactites- but then I figured it out- see- stalagmites has a “g” for ground, and stalactite- oh! We’re here.” Elrond could hear the grin in her voice. She pulled him forwards, and he gladly followed. “See, there’s a hole in the wall here; kind of hard to find, but- aha!” He felt her fall forwards, seemingly through the wall, and pulled her back onto her feet.  
“Careful.”  
“Of course.” They stepped through the hole, and stone grazed the top of Elrond’s head. Had he been a couple centimetres taller, that might’ve been a disaster. Hopefully the stone hadn’t cut- oh. Blueish light flooded his senses, soft and unobtrusive. It was as though glowing water dripped from the ceiling in threadlike icicles, their source a strongly luminescent pool of blue-white light that was somehow stuck to the ceiling. In certain places the threads were so numerous and so long that it seemed almost as though there was a curtain of glowing rain suspended from the ceiling, chasing away the dark and illuminating the entire chamber. Elrond stared at it all in shock, eventually drawing his eyes away for a moment to glance at Celebrian. The light seemed to dye her hair and her irises the color of ice, so that her gaze burned with blue moonlight instead of silver.  
“Do you like it?” she asked, almost shyly.  
“It- it’s incredible,” Elrong managed to breath once he had recovered from the shock of finding such beautiful light in such darkness. But then again, he supposed that it shouldn’t be so shocking. Had he not done the same, after all? Found himself a family, found love in the midst of war and grief? A grin spread slowly onto his face. “What are they?”  
“I am so glad you asked.” Celebrian pulled out a notebook from the pocket of her dress, the small, leatherbound one that she would not be seen without. “After Arwen showed them to me, I drew a little sketch; see?” She offered a page to him, and he peered over. “Turns out they’re animals; fly larvae. I’m not so sure what the strands hanging down are for though; perhaps to catch food?” He laughed at her genius. It should have been clear by now that she was brilliant - after all, who else would stay up all night with him writing essays on the differing speech patterns of elves from different parts of middle earth? - but somehow she still managed to surprise him.  
“How did you figure that out?”  
“I took one, and it hatched. Arwen named it Cala.” Light. A fitting name. I smiled softly at Celebrian.  
“Thank you for bringing me here. Eru knows I needed it.”  
“I thought so too. My first thought on coming here was; I bet Elrond would love this.”  
“Really?”  
“No. That was my second thought. My first thought was; I hope Elladan and Elrohir don’t find this place, because they will definitely revert back to elflings and throw glowing slime at each other.” Elrond laughed, shaking his head.  
“Thank you, regardless.”  
“Of course.” She leaned over to kiss him, pressing their foreheads together. Her eyes were filled with warm light. Elrond smiled. Maybe, he could finally let himself believe that they were safe here. That this could be forever.

Later, he would look back and wonder how he could have possibly been so wrong.

**Author's Note:**

> My apologies for that last line, I couldn't resist <3


End file.
